Saints Joachim and Ann, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Memorial

Today the Church honors Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the maternal grandparents of Jesus. The accounts of this holy couple in the apocryphal fourth-century Proto-evangelium of James deliver the consistent message that this couple infused wisdom, virtue, and a love for God into their family. Through them, we are reminded of the importance of the generations around us. Parents and grandparents often share experiences that build family values, cultural identity, and display the abundance of God’s love for His children. [1]

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Solemnity

“’Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.’ The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians…’”[1]

Today the Church honors the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of our Blessed Mother’s principal feasts and a holy day of obligation. Jesus took up and received His Mother in the totality of her being, a joyous union of God-bearer and Son. The earliest accounts of this mystery are from the 5th or 6th century. In the thirteenth century, Albert the Great, St. Aquinas, and St. Bonaventure endorsed the teaching, which was then a pious belief. In 1950 Pope Pius XII issued the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus declaring “. . . for the glory of Almighty God, who poured his special affection upon the Virgin Mary for the honor of his Son . . . we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” Our Mother’s Assumption is honored as the fourth Glorious Mystery in the Holy Rosary. [2][3][4]

We have prepared a summary of the June 2015 Newsletter from the USCCB Office of Divine Worship and you can find the entire newsletter attached. The newsletter includes information on:

Liturgical Schedule of Pope Francis’ Visit to the United States:

Pope Francis will undertake an Apostolic Journey to the United States and United Nations on September 22-27, 2015, visiting Washington, DC, New York City, and Philadelphia. This visit takes place on the occasion of the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. During the papal visit, there will be six liturgical events: two each in Washington, New York City, and Philadelphia. An interreligious prayer service will also take place in New York City. In the newsletter you will find Pope’s liturgical schedule presented with additional notes.

Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition

The project we are most interested in is that of the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition which is an ongoing work and believed to be released in 5 years from now.

As part of the project of preparing a new English edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, the members reviewed proposed modifications to a revised translation of the Old and New Testament canticles. That action item was later voted upon during the plenary meeting, although the result was inconclusive due to the absence of some Bishops. A mail ballot is underway to arrive at a final decision regarding the revised canticles.

The Committee also discussed the possibility of introducing a second cycle of patristic and ecclesiastical readings for the Office of Readings, which is an option permitted by the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours (cf. nos. 161-162). There is no official schema for such a cycle, though the Holy See has published a draft list of readings, and several other Conferences of Bishops and religious communities have produced their own versions of this supplement. The members of the Committee felt that although this material might be advantageous for spiritual reading and would introduce greater variety in the Divine Office, the practical considerations involved in the selection and translation of texts would add considerable delay to the completion of the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition. For this reason, the Committee decided to postpone the project indefinitely.

Information about Future Liturgical Books,Proper Calendar and The Sacrament of Holy Orders in the Life of the Church you can find in detail in the attached newsletter.

June 28 Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr Memorial “The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of God came down upon the Lord, and the Lord in turn gave this Spirit to his Church, sending the Advocate from heaven into all the world…” [1]… Enter Prayer

Liturgy of the Hours for November 24

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